Mated: An Enemy King

A Blood Oath

"The Doisle tribe have made a decision." Nuela remained unfazed by my outburst as a dagga materialized from somewhere, putting me on edge instantly.

"And does that decision include murdering your king?" I spat even as my eyes went around searching for more figures I could not have seen before, but Nuela merely laughed before wrapping her hand on the shiny thing.

"As brave as the Doisle tribe is, we both know we could never be successful with such an undertaking, my king. We have barely started thriving." Barely was an understatement with how far the tribe had come over the years, but I was not about to argue as thoughts on whether the tribe had truly considered murdering its king flooded my mind.

"Such has never at one point crossed our minds." As if able to read my mind, Nuela scoffed before taking a step forward. "We are here to offer a blood oath to our king. Our undivided devotion and our very lives." A blood oath? Undivided devotion? Instead of pleasing me, the sound of that more than annoyed me. "We know his highness has long sought the Doisle tribe's support."

The annoying wolf! "And so what? Am I supposed to be eternally grateful for your thoughtfulness?" I sneered, but as always, my words did little to annoy the Doisle matriarch which in turn only angered me more. "I've never needed you and I sure as hell don't now!"

"He could have taken after you my queen, but no, he had to take after you my king. So stubborn!" Nuela's exasperated tone made me freeze in my steps, heart clenching at the sound of the familiar banter I'd not heard in so long. It was one sided, but I could hear my father scoffing at the tribe's leader's words, while a memory of my mother's smile at the sight of Nuela and my father arguing stabbed my insides. "Must you make my life difficult even from beyond the grave?"

"Why now?" I swung around and demanded, before the incoming waves of emotion could drown out the little composure I now possessed. "You've never cared before. You preferred the shadows than standing besides your own king."

"You asked about the city gates..." Nuela began, her expression not bearing even a hint of regret. I did not know how to feel about that after my outburst. "A foreign princess for a mate meant more than just the perfect companion when it came to being mated to a king as their bond was not just about their hearts. They brought two kingdom's together. The unions, having been granted by the moon goddess were meant to be perfect, but that was not always the case as kingdoms are never perfect. Some are more overtaken by greed than others. After suffering the worst betrayal in the history of Leif by one mated to one of the first kings, the city gates were enchanted-"

"So it is sorcery after all." I scoffed.

"It was meant to test the heart of its bearer. And your mate passed with flying colours. Although after hearing of how she'd wielded the ancient sword of the kings that only a pure heart can, there should have been no need, but I had a duty to fulfil to your mother and father-"

"Wait, mother and father?" Whatever I'd expected about the whole fuss at Leif's gates, it was nothing related to the former king and queen of the kingdom I now ruled. I swung around yet again, only this time it was to face the gravestones I'd been avoiding. The engraved images had forever immortalised my parents by the artist who'd captured them just as I remembered, but the sight had never been enough to seal the gaping hole their absence had left in my soul.

"They always prayed that the moon goddess would favour you in that regard. With the arrival of the princess, we knew then that our king and Leif would be in safe hands." Nuela continued. "We couldn't very well pledge our allegiance to you before then." A thought of the dislike Nuela had whenever she laid her eyes on Darla crossed my mind and even if I wasn't drawn to my chosen mate anymore the anger that this annoying tribe refused to acknowledge me as their king because of my choices soared the more Nuela spoke.

"Your choice of a mate had nothing to do with it." How the hell was she aware of my thoughts? "It was more about the choice of allies. Eldoria has never meant any good for you." I did not expect the slander of one of the strongest allies of Leif and that done in front of my parents. Neither did I expect myself to give in to the hurt inflicted by the wound she had so generously laid bare by bringing me here.

"Gaden was there when you weren't!" I hissed as I was forced to relieve the worst moment in my life. "As your own king and queen, the ones you had vowed to protect with your lives lay drowning in their own blood, where the hell were you?!"

"Has it ever occurred to you as to how Eldoria just happened to be there? How its king just happened to find the poor broken prince and offered him the right amount of comfort?" I hated the calm Nuela held while she spoke and I hated that she refused to answer me too. I hated her questioning the truth I'd known all these years. The thing that had fueled everyone of my decisions. Had I been wrong all along? I waved those thoughts away before the heaviness of that accusation settled on me and grew roots in my heart that would leave me drowning in the sea of regret.

"Why don't you tell me where the hell you were when mother and father breathed their last instead?"

Anger marred Nuela's features before composing herself. "That is a story for another day."

I growled. How dare she refer my answers to another day. "Your king demands that you answer."

"It will change nothing." The tribe's leader sighed, before gripping the dagga tightly until she bled. "With this, we vow never to allow history to repeat itself." Nuela handed me the ancient dagga as she held out her bleeding palm. I was still angry with her. With the entire Doisle tribe, but I knew it would be foolish of me to refuse what they were offering and so I gripped the sharp end of the dagga until I bled too. Taking Nuela's bleeding hand, I felt the power of the blood oath course through my body as our blood mixed and intertwined, forming a bond only severed by death.

"You are bound to me. Everything this king shall ask of you will be done without question."

"We wouldn't have it any other way, your majesty." At her words, the entire forest filled with sounds of jubilation, making me curse my own failure to descern the presence of those wretched spies. "And one more thing, a time is coming when allegiances will mean nothing, a time when she, your mate, will be the only one you can trust." Riddles, I hated those, but somehow whatever Nuela said, I just knew that when the time came, I would know. So I merely nodded.

"This calls for a celebration, for today the Doisle tribe have been accorded a chance to redeem themselves." Nuela bowed, a satisfied expression on her face. "Will his majesty join us?"

"Perhaps after a word with his majesties." My gaze travelled to my parent's gravestones. Despite the sounds of jubilation, I felt a sense of failure at the sight of them.

"Of course, as you wish, my king." Nuela bowed one more time before shifting and disappearing the way we came. The sounds of celebration ceased too, leaving me to the familiar sounds of the serene forest that surrounded my parent's burial place.

"She is the most beautiful thing." I blurted out in front of the two people who once upon a time had been my whole world. I'd meant to admit to how I'd failed them yet again, but now that it was just us, I felt a sense of contentment I'd never felt in their presence before. There was no ounce of desperation or anger, just the strangest desire to speak of her. Have them meet my mate even though she was not here with me.

"You'd have loved her mother. And you too father. She has the hand of the gods." I let out a chuckle as I fell into narrating how fiercely Aryn had wielded her family's sword, how she'd put wolves twice her size in their place even without a wolf herself. And the more I spoke of her, I came to a decision. I was done waiting.

"Have a room prepared for me at Wrenyth."

"A room? At Wrenyth?" Zakariel donned a surprised expression at that, but the glint in his eyes also spoke of how pleased he was over my decision. "Right away."